The vast majority of bills passed in the 2011 session of the General Assembly take effect on January 1, 2012. The following is a description of insurance related laws – and other new laws that will govern the behavior of Illinoisans for years to come.
Cancer Insurance Coverage (HB 1191/PA 0091): Mandates that routine patient medical care must be provided to patients participating in qualified clinical cancer trials, if the patient’s policy would cover that routine medical care if they were not enrolled in the clinical trial.
Divorce Concessions (SB 1824/PA 97-0608): Allows people in divorce situations to use life insurance as a security for child support and maintenance obligations.
Dry-Cleaning Facility (HB 1953/PA 97-0377): Requires an active dry-cleaning facility that has previously received or is currently receiving reimbursement of remedial action benefits under the Act to maintain continuous financial assurance for environmental liability coverage in the amount of $500,000.
Healthcare Information (HB 1562/PA 97-0171): Requires the Illinois Department of Public Health to make the Hospital Report Card Act available on its Web site. States that links to the Consumer Guide to Health Care and the Hospital Report Card Act on DPH’s Web site must include a brief description of the information available in both. Requires, if relevant, DPH to reference the Web pages of the Consumer Guide to Health Care and the Hospital Report Card Act when it creates new or updates existing consumer fact sheets or materials for the purpose of educating the Illinois health care consumer.
Insurance Arbitration (SB 152/PA 97-0513): Requires mandatory arbitration insurers to arbitrate and settle disputes made for physical damage to a vehicle under $2,500.
Insurance Contracts (HB 3034/PA 97-0235): Allowsa person who has entered into a written contract with a contractor to be paid from a property and casualty insurance policy, to cancel the contract prior to midnight of the fifth business day after the insured has received written notice from the insurer that any part of the claim or contract is not a covered loss under the insurance policy. If the insurance settlement of a claim is less than the amount claimed or if the claim is denied, the insurance company must provide to the insured a reasonable written explanation of the lower offer or denial within 30 days after the investigation of liability is completed. Within 10 days after a contract has been cancelled, the contractor must reimburse the insured for any payments or deposits made by the insured and any note or other evidence of indebtedness.
Insurance Expense Reporting (SB 1553/PA 97-0524): Changes the insurance company administrative expense reporting requirement to the Illinois Dept. of Insurance from annually, to every 6 months. The bill specifies the 6 month reporting period to be October and April.
Insurance Late Fee Increases (HB 1129/PA 97-0486): Replaces provisions concerning the filing of annual statements and penalties for filing late or false statements of the Dental Services Plan Act and Health Maintenance Organization Act with provisions currently in the Insurance code, which outlines more costly penalties.
Insurance Recoupment (HB 1193/PA 97-0556): Sets the health care provider payment recoupment time limit for insurance companies at 18 months from the original payment to the provider.
Oral Cancer Medications (HB 1825/PA 97-0198): Requires insurance plans that provide coverage for oral cancer medications and intravenous cancer medications to cover oral medications at the same benefit cost as intravenous medications.
Portable Electronic Insurance (HB 1284/PA 97-0366): Creates a new “limited lines” license for retailers that sell insurance to cover the repair or replacement of portable electronic devices, like wireless phones and computers. Requires anyone who offers or sells the portable electronics insurance to have a limited lines license.
Tobacco Cessation (SB 673/PA 97-0592): Makes the tobacco cessation program mandatory, and requires group health insurers to offer, for additional premiums, $500 a year worth of tobacco cessation program coverage/reimbursement
Uninsured Driving (HB 2267/PA 97-0407): Requires mandatory maximum fines for a person who has multiple convictions of driving an uninsured motor vehicle. Requires that a $2,500 fine be imposed, in addition to any jail sentence, for an individual convicted of driving an uninsured vehicle that results in bodily harm to another person, if the defendant has two or more convictions for driving an uninsured vehicle. Requires the same fee for a person who receives a third conviction of uninsured operation of a motor vehicle that leads to bodily injury to another. Sets the fee at $1,000 for an individual convicted of a third or subsequent violation of uninsured operation of a vehicle that does not result in bodily injury.
Unemployment Insurance (SB 72 / PA 97-0621): Allows the state to issue bonds to pay $2.4 billion back to the federal government for keeping the state’s unemployment trust fund solvent. By paying back the feds, the state avoids $240 million in interest payments and $400 million in penalties. The new law, Sen. Terry Link (D-Waukegan) and Rep. Frank Mautino (D-Spring Valley), does not reduce benefits for workers. It also cuts tax rates for employers who have not had recent layoffs.
Antique Vehicles (HB 3256/PA 97-0412): Creates a new "expanded-use" category of antique vehicles (vehicles more than 25 years old). While regular antique vehicles are generally limited to driving to and from car shows when using state highways, the expanded-use vehicles have unrestricted use of the highways from April 1 through Oct. 31. The owner must pay appropriate registration and renewal fees and also pay the $45 per year fee for expanded-use antique vehicle registration.
Child Passenger Safety (HB 1222/PA 97-0026): Requires that after satisfactory completion of a child passenger safety instructional course the technician who conducted the course must issue a letter of completion on a form that has been verified by IDOT. This will help the judges more easily identify the letter’s purpose.
College Student Data (SB 122/PA 97-0588): Requires all public institutions of higher education to track the status of students who are the first in their family to attend an institution of higher education.
Eviction (HB 1209/PA 97-0247): Allows a landlord to request rent be paid for the period of time pending an eviction, if the eviction has been put on hold by a judge.
False Representation (SB 64/PA 97-219): Prohibits knowingly and falsely representing oneself to be another person in order to intimidate, threaten, injure, defraud, or obtain a benefit from another. Prohibits a person from claiming to represent a person or organization in order to obtain a benefit, or to injure or defraud another person.
ID Theft Protection (SB 151/PA 97-0388): Prohibits the use, possession, or transfer of a radio frequency identification device (RFID) capable of obtaining or processing personal identifying information from a credit or debit card to use the new chip technology for an illegal purpose.
Identity Protection (HB 3513/PA 97-0139): States that an individual’s social security number may not be printed on a wristband or on the outside of any file associated with the products or services of the person.
Impoundment (HB 1220/PA 97-0109): Allows a municipality to impose a reasonable fee for impoundment of a vehicle to cover administrative and processing costs for the investigation, arrest, and detention of an offender or the removal, impoundment, storage, and release of a vehicle.
Jury Selection (HB 2066/PA 97-0034): Includes claimants for unemployment insurance in the lists used to create jury selection pools.
Laser Airplane Prohibition (HB 167/PA 97-0153): Prohibits discharging a laser into the cockpit of an aircraft that is taking off, landing, or in flight.
Minimum Wage Penalties (HB 3237/PA 97-0571): Increases penalties for contractors, subcontractors and public body employees who do not comply with minimum wage requirements.
Motorcycle Red Lights (HB 2860/PA 97-0627): Allows motorcyclists stopped at a red light to proceed through the light if, after waiting a reasonable length of time, the red light fails to change to green. Governor Quinn issued an amendatory veto to change the language of the measure, however both the House and Senate overrode his changes and the bill became law as originally passed.
Pet Identification (SB 1637/PA 97-0240): Requires a person who is scanning a lost pet for a micro-chip to also look for other common forms of identification (tattoos, id tags, etc.). Requires the administrator of an animal control facility to contact the pet’s owner or caretaker through telephone and/or e-mail, if possible. Requires that a second scan for a micro-chip be performed on an animal prior to euthanization, and gives animal control facilities immunity from civil liability and criminal damages when (1) they have attempted in good faith to contact the registered owner of a microchipped animal and (2) when they have microchipped an animal.
Radon Reporting (HB 141/PA 97-0021): Requires landlords to provide tenants with notice of radon tests that indicated a radon hazard.
Rental Car Traffic Citations (HB 1593/PA 97-0029): Allows for a rental car company to provide the name of a previous renter to the SoS to ensure the renter of a car, not the rental company, receives any citation issued to them as the result of an automated traffic camera.
Road Kill (HB 3178) Illinoisans can pick up dead animals off the road, under a bill sponsored by Rep. Norine Hammond (R-Macomb) and Sen. John Jones (R-Mt. Vernon). Those wanting to pick up “roadkill” must have the proper hunting license or stamp, and the animal must be in season. Quinn vetoed the bill, but lawmakers voted to override his veto.
Specialty Plates (HB 2938/PA 97-0409): Establishes that the Secretary of State (SOS) must receive 1,500 applications for a specialty plate within two years or the SOS’s authority to issue the plate will be nullified. Requires charities that are to receive funds from the sale of a specialty license plate to meet the registration and reporting requirements of the Charitable Trust Act and the Solicitation for Charity Act each year. Provides that specialty plates will be discontinued if their registrations fall below 1,000 a year, and requires SOS to recall all issued plates of that type; vehicle owners who have the recalled plates are entitled to receive different plates without a fee.
Taxation Disclosure Act (SB 43/PA 97-0353): Directs the Dept. of Revenue to create an online searchable data base of all tax rates in the state, which will be publicly available by January 1, 2012. It must include all taxes: income, sales, property, and business taxes imposed by taxing districts and by the State.
Vehicle Occupancy Restrictions (HB 1315/PA 97-0017): Bans riding in a trailer, semitrailer, farm wagon or any other vehicle while it is being towed upon a public highway, unless necessary due to an emergency situation.
Video Monitors in Vehicles (HB 3403/PA 97-0499): Allows video monitors in cars featuring entertainment or business applications to be displayed on the front monitor so long as the images are not viewable by the driver while operating the vehicle.
For more information on these laws, visit the Illinois General Assembly website at www.ilga.gov.
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